sound 
SOUnd 3 (sound), n. [< ME. KOiinde; of. Icel. sitinl- 
mugl, the sound of a fish, lit. 'swimming-maw': 
see sound? and iaiv l .~\ In zoiil. : () Tiie swim- 
ming-bladder or air-bladder of a fish. The sound 
is a hollow vesicular organ, originating from the digestive 
tract in fact, a rudimentary lung, the actual homologue 
of the lungs of air-breathing vertebrates, though in fishes 
as in other branchiates, respiration is effected by gills' 
(See air-bladder. ) Some fishes' sounds are an esteemed ar- 
ticle of food, as that of the cod, which when fried is some- 
thing like an oyster so cooked ; others are valuable as a 
source of isinglass. 
Sounde of a fysshe, cannon. Palsgrave, (llalliivell.) 
Of [fishes'] sounds we make isinglass. 
Goldsmith, Int. to Brookes's Nat. Hist., Ill 
(6) A cuttlefish. 
sound 4 (sound), v. [Early uiod. E. also sownde ; 
< ME. soundeii (= D. sonderen = G. sondiren = 
Sw. sondera = Dan. sondere), < OF. (and P.) 
tender = Sp. Pg. sondar, sound; (a) perhaps < 
MD. sond, suntl = AS. sund = Icel. Sw. Dan. 
sund, a strait, sound (cf. AS. sund-gyrd, a 
sounding-rod, sund-line, a sounding-line: see 
sound?) ; (6) otherwise perhaps < L. 'subundare, 
submerge : see sub- and ouiid, undulate.] I. 
tniiis. 1. To measure the depth of; fathom; 
try or test, as the depth of water and the qual- 
ity of the ground, by sinking a plummet or lead 
attached to a line on which is marked the num- 
ber of fathoms. Machines of various kinds are also 
used to indicate the depth to which the lead has descended. 
A cavity in the lower end of the lead is partially filled with 
Apparatus used in Sounding. 
A, B.C. Brooke's Deep-sea Sounding-apparatus : a, rod with horns 
* pivoted thereto ; c, sounding-line ; a, wires by which the lead e is 
attached to the horns, connected with a washer f under the lead ; ft, 
opening in lower end of rod, by which specimens of the bottom may be 
secured. When the rod strikes the bottom, the lead slides downward, 
bringing the horns into the position shown in S, and releasing the 
wires d and the lead ; the rod only is then drawn up, leaving the lead 
at the bottom. 
D, , British Navy Sounding-apparatus : ff, lead ; *, counterpoised 
hooks which engage the loop at the top of the lead ; rf, wedge-shaped 
cup for specimens, attached by cord or wire to the pivot of the hooks ; 
t, attachment for the sounding-line or -wire. When the cup rf touches 
bottom, the hooks b drop into the position shown in E ; the sinker 
or lead then drops over, releasing the cup, and this, with its specimen 
and the hooks, is drawn to the surface. 
tallow, by means of which some part of the earth, sand, 
gravel, shells, etc., of the bottom adhere to it and are 
drawn up. Numerous devices are in use for testing the 
nature of the bottom, as a pair of large forceps or scoops 
carried down by a weight, which are closed when they 
B 
Taselli's Sounding-apparatus. 
a and b, arms pivoted to c; tt, lead, which is attached to a stem 
at the top of which is a crosspiece. When the arms are raised into 
the position shown in A, the crosspiece engages them and holds them 
in that position till the lead strikes the bottom ; they are then released, 
and fall into the position shown in B. The cups (shown in the cuts), on 
closing, scoop up a specimen of the bottom. 
strike the ground, and so inclose some of the aand, shells, 
etc., a cup at the bottom of a long leaden weight, which is 
closed by a leathern cover when full, etc. See the accom- 
panying cuts of apparatus used in sounding. Brooke's ap- 
paratus is said to be the first by which soundings of over 
2,000 fathoms were made and specimens of the bottom 
obtained. 
Go sound the ocean, and cast your nets ; 
Happily you may catch her in the sea. 
Shak., Tit. And.,iv. 3. 7. 
Two plummets dropt for one to sound the abyss. 
Tennyson, Princess, ii. 
2. In surg., to examine by means of a sound or 
probe, especially the bladder, in order to ascer- 
tain whether a stone is present or not. 
By a precious oyle Doctor Russell at the first applyed to 
It when he sounded it with probe (ere night) his torment- 
ing paine was . . . well asswaged. 
Quoted in Cope. John Smith's Works, 1. 179. 
3. Figuratively, to try; examine; discover, or 
endeavor to discover, that which is concealed in 
5788 
the mind of; search out the int.-iitioii. opinion 
will, or wish of. 
It Is better to sound a person with whom one deals, afar 
"If. than to fa 1 upon the point at Bret, except you mean to 
surprise him by some short question. 
Bacon, Negotiating (ed. 1887). 
I have sounded him already at a distance, and Hnd all 
his answers exactly to our wish. 
Gotdmiith, Good-natured Man, ii. 
4. To ascertain the depth of (water) in a ship's 
hold by lowering a sounding-rod into the pump- 
well. -6. To make a sounding with, or carry 
down in sounding, as a whale the tow-line of a 
boat.- TO sound a line, to sound all lines, see line*. 
II. in trans. 1. To use the line and lead in 
searching the depth of water. 
I soumde, as a schyppe man toumdetlt in the see with his 
plummet to knowe the deppeth of the see. Je pilote. 
Palsgrave, p. 726. 
Theshipnien . . . rounded, and found It twenty fathoms. 
Acts xxvii. 27, 28. 
2. To penetrate to the bottom; reach the depth. 
For certes, lord, so sore hath she me wounded 
That stood in Make, with lokynge of hire eighen, 
That to rnyn hertis botme it is ysmmded. 
Chaucer, Troilus, II. 635. 
3. To descend to the bottom ; dive : said of fish 
and other marine animals. When a sperm-whale 
sounds, the fore parts arc lifted a little out of water, a 
strong spout is given, the nose is dipped, the back and 
small are rounded up, the body bends on a cross-axis, the 
flukes are thrown up 20 or SO feet, and the whale goes 
straight down head first, in less than its own length of 
water. 
sound* (sound), n. [= D. G. Dan. sonde = Sw. 
sond, < F. sonde, a probe, a sounding-lead, = Sp. 
Pg. sonda, a sound; from the verb: see sound*, 
fl.J In surg., any elongated instrument, usual- 
ly metallic, by which cavities of the body are 
sounded or explored; a probe; specifically, 
an instrument used for exploring or dilating 
the urethra, or for searching the bladder for 
stone. 
sound 5 (sound), w. [< ME. sownde (with ex- 
crescent d), gown, sown, sowne, son, < OF. soun, 
son, sun, F. son = Pr. son, so = Sp. son = Pg. 
som = It. suono = Icel. sonn, a sound, < L. so- 
nus, a sound; cf. Skt. svana, sound, ^ svan, 
sound. Cf. sound&, v , t an( j gee assonant, con- 
sonant, dissonant, resonant, person, parson, re- 
sound, sonata, sonnet, sonorous, sonant, uni- 
son, etc.] 1. The sensation produced through 
the ear, or organ of hearing; in the physical 
sense, either the vibrations of the sounding- 
body itself, or those of the air or other medium, 
which are caused by the sounding-body, and 
which immediately affect the ear. A musical 
sound, or tone, is produced by a continued and regular se- 
ries of vibrations (or, in the physical sense, may be said to 
be these vibrations themselves) ; while a noise is caused 
either by a single impulse, as an electrical spark, or by a 
series of impulses following at irregular intervals. A 
sounding-body is a body which is in such a state of vi- 
bration as to produce a sound (see vibration). Thus, a 
tuning-fork, a bell, or a piano-string, if struck, will, in 
consequence of its elasticity, continue to vibrate for 
some time, producing, in the proper medium, a sound ; 
similarly, the column of air in an organ-pipe becomes 
a sounding-body when a current of air is continually 
forced through the mouthpiece past the lip : again, an 
inelastic body, as a card, may become a sounding body 
If It receives a series of blows at regular intervals and 
in sufficiently rapid succession, as from the teeth of a 
revolving cog-wheel. The vibrations of the sounding- 
body are conveyed to the ear by the intervening medium, 
which is usually the air, but may be any other gas, a liquid 
(as water), or an elastic solid. The presence of such a 
medium is essential, for sound is not propagated in a vac- 
uum. The vibrations of the sounding-body, as a tuning- 
fork, produce In the medium a series of waves (see wave) 
of condensation and rarefaction, which are propagated in 
all directions with a velocity depending upon the nature 
of the medium and its temperature for example, the 
velocity of sound In air is about 1,090 feet per second at 
32 F. (0C.)i and increases slightly as the temperature rises ; 
in other gases the velocity varies inversely as the square 
root of the density ; it is consequently nearly four times 
as great in hydrogen. In liquids the velocity is greater 
than in air for water, somewhat more than four tunes 
as great. In solids the velocity varies very widely, being 
relatively small in inelastic substances like wax and lead!, 
and very great (two to three miles per second) In wood 
and steel. Sound-waves may differ (1) in their wave- 
length that is, in the number of vibrations per second ; 
(2) in the amplitude of the motion of the particles forming 
them ; and (3) In their form, as to whether they are sim- 
ple, and consist of a single series of pendulum-like vibra- 
tions, or are compound, and formed of several such series 
superimposed upon each other. Corresponding to these 
differences in the sound-waves, the sounds perceived by 
the ear differ In three ways : (1) They differ In pitch. If 
the sound-waves are long and the number of vibrations 
few per second, the pitch is said to be low and the sound 
is called yrare ; as the number of vibrations increases, the 
pitch is said to rise and the sound to be higher; If the 
number of vibrations is very great and the length of the 
waves correspondingly small, the sound becomes shrill 
and piercing. It is found that the vibrations must be as 
numerous as 24 per second in order that the ear may be 
able to unite them as a continuous sound. Similarly, if 
the vibrations exceed 30,000 to 40,000 per second, they 
sound 
cease to jinxliire an> s. M^L! ion II|M>II the ear. c2> Sound* 
differ III inlrnnli/ or luudness. ITimarily the intensity of 
the sound depenils upon the amplitude of the vibrations; 
it diminish^ with the square of tin- ilintam-e from the 
* rdlnc-bodjr ; it also diminishes as the density of the air 
or other nie.linni decreases, ami is increased by the prox- 
imlly of a sonorous body whieh e:m vil.Kit. in uni-.-n with 
it (3) Hounds dlller in /""'''/' or /,,',/-,, thai |>M|.erty by 
which we liistiiiKuiHh between the same tone as sounded 
upon two different musical Instruments, as a piano and a 
violin. Thisdilference indue tu the fact that a note produced 
by a inimical Instrument is in general a compound note. 
consisting of the fundament:*! note, Hi. -piteh of which the 
ear perceives, and with it a number of blither notes of small 
Intensity whose vibrations as compared with the funda- 
mental note are usually as the numbers -1, 3, 4, 5, 8, etc. 
These upper notes, harmonics or over- tones (see ham 
blend with the fundamental note, and upon their num- 
ber and relative Intensity, consequently, the resultant 
combined effect upon the ear, or the quality of (he note, 
depends. Sound waves may, like light-waves, be reflected 
from an opposing surface (see rejection, echo, resonance) ; 
they may he refracted, or suffer a change of direction, In 
passing from one medium to another of different density ; 
they may suffer diffraction; and they may also suffer Inter- 
ference, giving rise to the pulsations of sounds called beats. 
See tenl, 7. 
2. A particular quality or character of tone, 
producing a certain effect on the hearer, or 
suggesting a particular cause; tone; note: as, 
a joyful sound; a sound of woe. 
There is around of abundance of rain. 1 KL xviil. 41. 
Dmuj. That 's the worst tidings that I hear of yet, 
War. Ay, by my faith, that bears a frosty sound. 
Shak., 1 Hen. IV., Iv. 1. 128. 
The sound of a sea without wind It about them. 
Sirinburne, Hesperla. 
3. Vocal utterance. 
"Tis not enough no harshness gives offence, 
The round must seem an echo to the sense. 
Pope, Essay on Criticism, 1. 366. 
4. Hearing-distance; ear-shot. 
Sooner shall grass in Hyde-park Circus grow, 
And wits take lodgings in the sound of Bow. 
Pope, K. of the L, Iv. 118. 
5. Empty and unmeaning noise. 
A tale 
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, 
Signifying nothing. Shale., Macbeth, v. 5. 27. 
6. Same as signal, '.' Anacamptlc sounds. See 
anacamptic. Blood-sounds, in auscultation, anemic 
murmurs. Bronchial sound, the normal bronchial 
breathing-sound. Cardiac sounds, the heart-sounds. 
Characteristic sound. See characteristic letter, un. 
der characteristic. Cogged breath-sound. See breath- 
sound. Friction sound. See friction-sound. Refrac- 
tion of sound. See refraction. Respiratory sounds. 
See respiratory. To read by sound, in teleg. See rcadl . 
= Syn. 1. Noise, Sound, Tone. Noise Is that effect upon 
the ears which does not convey, and Is not meant to con- 
vey, any meaning : as, the noise made by a falling chim- 
ney ; street noises. Sound is a general word, covering noise 
and Intelligible impressions upon the auditory nerves: 
as, the sound of cannon, of hoofs, of a trumpet, of prayer. 
Tone is round regarded as having a definite place on the 
musical scale, or as modified by feeling or physical affec- 
tions, or as being the distinctive quality of sound possess- 
ed by a person or thing permanently or temporarily : as, 
his tones were those of anger ; a piano of peculiarly rich 
tone. For technical distinctions, see def. 1 above, noise, 
and tone. 
sound 3 (sound), f. [< ME. sownden, souiim. 
sownen, sunen, < OF. suner, sorter, F. sonner = 
Pr. Sp. sonar = Pg. soar = It. sonare (= Icel. 
sona), < L. sonare, sound, < sonus, a sound: see 
sound 6 , n.'] I. intrant. 1. To produce vibra- 
tions affecting the ear; cause the sensation of 
sound ; make a noise ; produce a sound ; also, 
to strike the organs of hearing with a particular 
effect; produce a specified audible effect: as, 
the wind sounds melancholy. 
Ther herde I pleyen on an harpe. 
That souned bothe wel and sharpe, 
Orpheus ful craftely. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1. 1202. 
O earth, that soundest hollow under me. 
Tennyson, Coining of Arthur. 
2. To cause something (as an instrument) to 
sound ; make music. 
The singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. 
2 Chron. xxix. 28. 
3. To seem or appear when uttered; appear 
on narration: as, a statement that sounds like 
a fiction. 
How oddly will it round that I 
Must ask my child forgiveness ! 
Shak., Tempest, T. 1. 197. 
All this is mine but till I die; 
I can't but think 'twould sound more clever 
To me and to my heirs for ever. 
Pope, Imlt. of Horace, II. vi. 11. 
Your father never dropped a syllable which should 
round toward the asking me to assist him in his adversity. 
Godwin, Fleetwood, xlx. 
4. To be conveyed in sound ; be spread or pub- 
lished. 
From you sounded out the word of the Lord. 
1 The*. L 8. 
